Oblivious
by Ashynarr
Summary: Alfred was not a member of the Commonwealth, and felt rather proud of that fact. He wasn't even planning on going to a meeting... well, besides this one, because who can say no to that face?


Oblivious (Hetalia)

Author: Ashynarr

Summary: Alfred was not a member of the Commonwealth, and felt rather proud of that fact. He wasn't even planning on going to a meeting... well, besides this one, because who can say no to that face?

Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Warning: AustAme (though its fairly light), some silliness

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Alfred was not a member of the Commonwealth, and felt rather proud of that fact. He would not be part of even the shadow of the British Empire ever again, no sirree, and not even Mattie's subtle hints that he should at least stop by and say hello to some of the other members outside of official world meetings would convince him otherwise.

Or at least that's what he thought before Oz worked his magic. Still, just one meeting wasn't a commitment, and he had been meaning to speak to Alex about visiting after the next World Meeting, so it wasn't all that terrible. Or at least, that's what he told Mattie about it the next time the subject came up, only without the Oz bit because it was just a bit embarrassing.

(...what, don't give him that look!)

Maybe he should have mentioned Oz in his reasoning for conceding, because his brother did his quiet gloating thing the entire flight over and it had begun to get a bit annoying halfway there. But it wasn't like he didn't do the same thing (abet better because he was just awesome like that), so he instead settled on getting revenge via annoying the Canadian for the second half of the flight.

Between that and getting out of the plane to see Oz and Alex waiting, he was in a great mood, Mattie trailing behind with a slightly twitchy eye before he got himself under control. (Seriously, you'd think the Canadian wasn't used to his twin's antics by this point or something.)

The drive over to Arthur's place lifted his mood even more, Oz even managing to sneak him a wink in the rear view mirror when no one else was looking, and he figured that this whole Commonwealth meeting thing might not be too terrible after all.

The others seemed happy enough to see him, Angie latching onto his arm almost as soon as he entered the small mansion while Leon waved from his perch on top of one of Arthur's old chairs that were paradoxically ancient and unaging. The others there weren't people he interacted with as often, so he settled for nodding at them before turning back to his conversation with Oz.

Then Arthur entered the room, and even Alfred could feel the shift in the atmosphere, guessing what had happened before he'd even turned back around. If the others were expecting insults or a fight, though, they were set to be disappointed, Al offering an awkward grin and a hand raised in greeting.

"Yo, Arts, how's it hangin'?"

The briton raised an eyebrow in both warning and confusion, eyes drifting to the side where Mattie was. Apparently he got an answer, because he shook his head and sighed before turning back to the younger Nation. "I'm doing well enough. And yourself?"

"Eh, same ol' same ol'. Got some new planet hype goin' on, but I already talked people's ears off about it, so yeah."

"Of course," Arthur almost looked like he might have smiled, or perhaps grimaced, but at the last moment caught himself and glanced to the rest of the quiet room. "Since all of you seem to have nothing better to do, would a few of you set the table for lunch? The roast is almost done, and I'd rather not have to do everything else on top of that."

A few people scrambled out of the room, embarrassed, while the rest returned to their conversations, gradually returning the atmosphere to normal now that whatever they'd expected had - or hadn't, he supposed - come to pass. Oz looked ready to grab him and drag him away now that the necessary meeting had happened, but Matt got hold of the Australian first, and the American had to watch as the southern nation shrugged apologetically before leaving the room.

Oh well, he supposed there was no reason to not try and chat with Arthur. He could be a pretty chill dude sometimes, after all, even with his creepy invisible friends and tendencies to ramble about magic like it was the greatest thing ever. Pssh, everyone knew space was better anyways, but old men would be old men.

Speaking of which.

"Are you still using that old thing you got in the fifteen hundreds or whatever?" Alfred laughed, remembering the table in question. "I thought Francypants would've chucked it out behind your back by now or somethin!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "First off, that would require him to be able to lift anything heavier than a pot, which we both know he won't do in case it ruins his nails."

Alfred snerked, missing the flash of a grin on Arthur's face before it was hidden behind exasperation again.

"Secondly, I seem to recall a young colony deciding to show off to a few noblemen by lifting it up over his head with one hand, accidentally breaking it in the process."

"Oh come on, it was cool, and that table looked dumb anyways!" The American did not whine, and didn't appreciate the knowing look from the English Nation. "And you didn't even like them, or you would've stopped me before I even started."

"How you've managed to get this far with next to no tact I will never understand…" The briton shook his head and sighed again, turning to head back to the dining room to micromanage. Alfred laughed quietly, almost missing Angie slide up to him while he was still somewhat distracted.

"You're getting along pretty well with Arthur today," She commented idly, glancing over to the doorway.

"Hey, we don't always fight," The American mock huffed. "We just… sorta push each other's buttons a lot. And they aren't even real fights compared to what we got into before, well, yeah."

Alfred by chance caught sight of Oz at that point, and eager to catch him before lunch he dropped the conversation with Angie via a fast, "I'll catch up with ya later!"

Grabbing the Australian around the waist, he laughed and told Mattie, "Sorry dude, need to finish making vacation plans before it's too late, I'll give him back later!" Thus excused, he carried the laughingly protesting Nation towards a side hall, in the process missing the looks being exchanged between Mattie and Angie.

(Not that he would have been able to tell what they were thinking even if he were present, but hey, it's the thought that counts.)

~0~0~

Lunch was unsurprisingly noisy for the number of people present, individual conversations and fights blurring into a background cacophony that reminded Alfred a lot of Thanksgiving with the States or a casual stroll around New York City. In other words, relaxing.

Oz was one seat off from across from him, which was a bit of a letdown but no big deal. Mattie was to his left, with Arthur on his left at the head of the table. As all three were busy chatting with other people, the American decided to enjoy the food that had avoided the fate of most cooking attempts, humming random pop tunes under his breath between bites.

Distracted as such, it took a minute for Mattie to get his brother's attention, an elbow finally enough to get him to stop humming and glance to the Canadian in askance.

"Hey, are you going to Roderich's New Years ball this year?"

"Nah dude, you know I'm not the type to do that stuff," Alfred replied after he swallowed. "'Sides, I'm gonna be down in Sydney trying to get some heat back into my arms before they fall off from frostbite."

"It's not like you can't spend time down there afterwards, and besides, I've been going with Iryna for the last couple of years, it's really not that bad."

"That's 'cause you spend the second half of the thing making out with her in the back of the library," The American rolled his eyes. "And I've already got my tickets booked for tomorrow, so no point in wastin'em."

"So soon?" Mattie frowned. "You aren't even going to stay for the whole commonwealth meeting?"

"Sorry bro, maybe should've asked before I made plans with Oz and Alex," Alfred shrugged. "And it's not like I'm part of your fancy-pants club, so there's no real reason to hang around."

"But- Arthur'll be disappointed…"

Alfred glanced over to the Briton, who was conversing with Angie, before looking back to his brother with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, I'm pretty sure he won't care, since he wasn't even expecting me to show up in the first place. Probably aren't even any guest rooms left open, if I'm counting right, so I'd either be bunking with you or Oz depending on who wanted to put up with me."

"Woah, what's this about you bunking with someone?" Oz asked, having caught the tail end of the last sentence.

"Well, unless I get a hotel room back in town, I'm gonna have to spend the night in someone's room, because Arthur gets cranky when I sleep on the couch."

"Because you always kick one of the arms off in the middle of the night; forgive me for protecting my furniture from you for as long as possible." Oh great, looks like he'd caught a few people's ears now, no going back now.

"Please, dude, that was only like twice, and I paid you back for them!"

"I counted four, and you only repaid one!"

"Yeesh, don't get your pants in a bunch, I'll pay you back after vacation if it's still bugging you that much, kay?"

"He can stay in my room tonight, it's not like I'll mind the company," Oz offered, Alfred shooting him a grateful grin at interrupting the potential fight and for the offer.

"But isn't Alex bunking with you?"

Oz shrugged. "Alex can stay with someone else or chill with us, doesn't really matter much either way."

"But-"

"Oi, bugger off mate, maybe I wanna spend time with Al, aight?"

"Oz, don't be mean, he's just trying to help-" Angie tried to interrupt, but Al could see Oz was getting worked up and just hid his face behind his hands, knowing whatever happened next was probably going to be blamed on him somehow.

"Bloody wombat's been tryin' to keep me from talking to my own goddamn boyfriend almost all day! I'll insult him if I fucking want to!"

Alfred groaned in defeat even as he heard Alex muffle a laugh behind a hand, Leon snort much less subtly from several seats down, and almost everyone else shriek out various forms of denial or question all at once. How had they even made it four months without saying anything he had no idea, but it seemed that whatever privacy they'd had was dead and gone now.

Maybe he could slide under the table and pretend he wasn't there? If he tried he might even be able to pull off his brother's invisibility-

"Everyone put a sock in it!" Arthur bellowed over everyone, the room quickly falling silent, and Alfred didn't even need to look to see the expression on the older Nation's face. "Alfred, stop hiding under the table and come here. You too, Bruce. The rest of you, stay put until I'm done speaking to them."

The American sighed and pushed himself back up into his seat before scooting it back and getting up, Oz flushed in embarrassment as he stood as well. Uninterested in a fight, he followed Arthur out into the other room, taking a breath to calm himself down. The Briton didn't have any authority over their relationship, but it still felt like he was a hundred and twenty all over again.

After shooting a sharp look to the doorway where the others were attempting to subtly peek in, Arthur turned to the two of them, keeping his voice low to avoid having it carry. "How long?"

"A few months?" Alfred replied just as quietly, shrugging. "Didn't exactly wanna make a huge deal out of it, but, well."

"The others did unfortunately inherit their gossiping from the rest of Europe," Arthur sympathised. "And I do commend you for managing to keep mum on it for so long considering who you live with."

"Eh, Alex knew from the start, but doesn't really care so long as we keep it down," Oz shrugged. "And the states knew we wanted to keep it on the down low and kept their traps shut."

"Good on them, then," Arthur nodded, glancing back to the dining room before snorting in amusement. "Though I have to admit I'm a bit jealous; knowing those brats, they're already trying to decide who they're going to get me with now that you're 'taken', so to speak."

"Wait, what?" Alfred blinked, putting together a few pieces before abruptly going grey. "Oh my fucking god, you're joking."

"I wish I was."

"Do they not remember you fucking raised me? Like yeah, maybe you weren't the best in the world, but you were still practically my dad growing up and just- eeeeeurgh." Alfred shuddered, Arthur and Oz giving him sympathetic pats on the back. "How do you even know about that, though? I don't think they exactly told you…"

Arthur snorted in amusement. "I've had Francis trying to hook me up with humans and Nations alike for centuries - I know the signs by this point, and those children aren't nearly as subtle as they think they are."

Alfred and Oz sniggered behind their hands, imagining the other's faces should they find out how much their mentor actually know. "You mean they don't know-"

"No, and I intend to keep it that way, got it?"

"Duh, they haven't heard from me yet, have they?" Alfred lightly punched the older Nation in the shoulder. "It's sorta sad they think I'm the oblivious one when they haven't even noticed, though."

"Let people think what they like, it makes them more comfortable," Arthur shrugged before glancing back to Oz with a raised brow. "I'm trusting you won't be looking into the matter, of course."

"Never crossed my mind," The Australian waved his hands in warding. "I like not being hexed, thanks."

Alfred just nodded in agreement. With his luck, Arthur would sic ghosts on them if they broke their promises, and that would just plain suck.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

AN: Yeah, this is a rare pair update that got out of hand enough to warrant its own fic instead. Took a bit to decide on a title and summary, but overall I think this was a good lighthearted fic in a similar vein to 'Are We Dating?' which lets be honest is one of my best oneshots ever. Don't really have much to say, so hope you enjoyed and I'll be getting back to Mirror and SGP soon.

(Also, yes, I deleted older stuff I wasn't happy with. I'm not sorry because they all sucked horribly compared to my current works and don't deserve to taint my page any further. And no, I'm not writing more Avengers stuff because Marvel just does not interest me these days thanks to all the... mess they've made of themselves. ISTG I'm a better writer than those people, jesus...)


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